The Effect a Baby Can Have
by CeliaEquus
Summary: Clint and Tony have been married for a year, and decide to do it. They're going to adopt a baby. Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or any other Marvel thingummies, nor am I making money from this. Pure, pure fluff. You'll drown in the fluff.


"The Effect a Baby Can Have"

Clint was bouncing on his heels, unable to sit still. Tony could sit still, and was; it was his hands which were flying across his StarkPad as he tried to improve on the play equipment he'd been designing ever since the adoption was approved.

"You do know the kid won't be old enough to play on that yet?" Rhodey said.

"This is how confident I am that we won't screw up," Tony said. His hands shook, belying his words, but it was only noticeable to Rhodey.

"Calm down," he said.

"_You_ calm down."

"I'm not the one in an engineering frenzy."

"Quiet!" Clint snapped. Rhodey and Tony both looked at him, and Clint winced. "Sorry. I just can't help thinking that it was an administrative mistake, and that someone's gonna come out here and tell us that we're not really parenting material."

"You've gotta stay positive," Rhodey said. "Your husband's making the blueprints for a pretty awesome swing set."

"But why are we doing this? We live dangerous lives. We're always targets, and any kid of ours—"

"Will be the best damn protected kid in the world," Tony said. "Kick-ass babysitters, a fortress for a home, and we'll be vetting the hell out of any potential schools."

"Language," Rhodey reminded him. "You gave up booze, and you promised to give up swearing."

"Yeah, I know," Tony said, his eyes growing wide. "Shit, maybe we can't do this."

"Tony!"

"But… but we talked about it," Clint said quietly. "For months. We weighed the pros and cons, and submitted the paperwork on our first anniversary. We can't chicken out now. If this really is happening, it has to go perfectly."

Tony snorted. "It'll be worth it watching Fury having to censor himself in front of our baby. Our…" His eyes shone. "Our baby."

Clint was tugging Tony out of his seat in a moment, and kissing him thoroughly. Rhodey coughed as he looked away, and shut off the StarkPad. He could hear footsteps, and something told him this was it.

"Guys?" he said. Tony and Clint pulled apart, and turned towards the door.

"Would it look bad if I ran up and made grabby-hands, saying 'Gimme, gimme, gimme'?" Clint asked.

"A bit unprofessional," Rhodey said.

"Da— darn."

The door opened, and a woman entered with a bundle in her arms.

"Mr. Barton, Mr. Stark," she said, walking up to them. Rhodey watched carefully, because the last thing they needed was a last-minute freak-out. It'd taken them a long time to get here; he'd been on the receiving end of most of Tony's panicked calls, so he had a vested interest in them seeing this through.

"You take it," Tony murmured to Clint, nudging him forward. Clint was the one who'd broached the subject in the first place, worried the most, wanted a family desperately, and cried the hardest when they were approved. Despite his look of worry, he accepted the bundle.

"A girl," the nurse said. "She looked the most like the two of you. We try to match babies exactly, or as much as we can."

"She's beautiful," Clint said, his voice choked. "Hey, sweetheart." He bounced her in his arms a little. "I'm your daddy. I'm one of your daddies." He looked up at Tony, and Rhodey had never seen the guy more in love. "Tony?"

"I'll leave you to it," the nurse said. Clearly she liked the look of them, and she smiled at Rhodey before leaving the room.

"Hi, baby girl," Tony said, pulling the blanket back so he could see her. "Christ, she looks like my mom. I have baby pictures, and she… Wow. Rhodey, come look."

"Not yet," Rhodey said. "She's gotta bond with you first, remember?"

Tony stroked her cheek. "Little girl. What're we gonna call you? Where's… where's that list?"

"Have it here, Tony."

"She's perfect," Clint said. He shifted her in his arms. "Tony, you wanna hold her?"

"We have to pick a name," Tony said.

"Or we could just go with Luna," he said. "She's our favourite Harry Potter character, and that was in our top-five list. I just… think she looks like a Luna." He glanced away. "Does that sound stupid?"

Tony peeked at their daughter, and shook his head. "Not stupid at all," he said. "She's a Luna. Luna Stark."

"Don't give her a middle name starting with 'C'," Rhodey said. "Or she'll be Luna-C."

Clint and Tony gave him a collective Death Glare, and Rhodey decided to keep his opinions to himself.

"Little Luna," Tony crooned to her. "Let's go sign those papers."

"I don't wanna give her up just yet," Clint said, holding her closer. "Unless you're ready to hold her?"

Tony hesitated, and then held out his arms. Clint handed her over, making sure that Tony was holding her properly before letting go. There were definite tears in his eyes, and he wouldn't stop touching his husband. He also kept looking at their baby, as riveted as Tony was. Since it seemed they wouldn't be getting anything done for the next couple of minutes, Rhodey sent a message out to the others to tell them the good news.

"Congrats, guys," he said.

"Thanks, Rhodey," Tony said.

"For what?"

"For being there."

Rhodey shrugged. "You'd do the same thing for me."

"Luna, Luna, Luna," Clint sang. "Baby Moon."

"She's not yours, or Luna, until you sign the paperwork," Rhodey reminded them. "Now put her in the stroller and let's go."

"No stroller," Tony said, placing her back into Clint's arms. "I can tell we won't need one just yet."

Rhodey rolled his eyes, and followed them with the stroller they'd brought just in case. Clint was clearly unable to surrender her just yet. He kept burying his nose in the blanket and taking a deep breath.

"Come see her," Clint said. "Uncle Rhodey."

He'd deny blushing, but he did hurry to Clint's side, and looked over his shoulder. He could definitely see a lot of Tony in her, but there was also some Clint. The adoption agency had chosen well. Normally, he couldn't see any resemblance between babies and their parents; but if it wasn't for the fact that it was a stranger's child, he could've sworn in a court of law that Luna was a product of Clint and Tony Stark. (Clint kept his name for work, but used Tony's everywhere else. And it simplified things not to have a double-barrelled surname, especially for a child.)

There was a smattering of blonde hair on the baby; it was this Clint kept sniffing. While Rhodey watched, he kissed her tiny nose. Looking up at the right moment, Rhodey saw that look of utter adoration on Tony's face as he gazed at his family.

"Beautiful," Tony whispered.

They signed the paperwork quickly, and Rhodey even got to hold the baby while Clint scrawled his signature. Luna was finally transferred to the stroller, and wheeled out to a multitude of cameras flashing. The other Avengers were there, along with Stark Industries guards performing crowd control. Luna was very good, hardly stirring. She opened her eyes, and Rhodey nearly tripped over his feet when he saw the dark brown of Tony's eyes staring up at them.

"Do you need help, sir?" Happy asked.

"Nope," Clint said, sliding in first. He and Tony strapped Luna into a baby carrier, which was then secured between them. Rhodey climbed into the front passenger seat, and he noticed Steve mounting his motorcycle, to act as escort. It was a well-oiled operation, designed to make the journey home as safe as possible.

They arrived without incident, and made it up to Clint and Tony's floor safely. JARVIS added Luna to his scanning system as soon as they set foot inside the building. She would be monitored the entire time, and her booties had a protected locating device connected solely to JARVIS's server. He would alert them any time she was outside of whichever zone she was supposed to be in. Best damn protected baby in the world, all right.

"She's the sweetest thing I've ever seen," Bruce said, tickling her tummy. She squirmed, gurgling. "And I've seen a lot of babies. Delivered some, too."

"Luna is a name fit for a goddess," Thor declared.

"A Roman goddess," Natasha said.

"Indeed?"

"She really does look like you," Steve said, leaning over the crib to study her, no doubt with an artist's eyes. "Can I draw her? Later, I mean. I just… really want to draw her. She's perfect."

"We've become sappy," Natasha said. "My reputation at SHIELD will be shot."

"No one would ever doubt your reputation," Clint said. "I look forward to people underestimating me just because I'm a dad now. It's gonna be fun putting `em straight."

"Shh," Tony said. "She's going to sleep."

Sure enough, Luna opened her small mouth in a big yawn, and wriggled into a comfortable position. Making sure that it was a safe one, Clint finally stopped pestering her with gentle touches, and wrapped his arms around Tony's waist. The others left them alone, Rhodey trailing behind them. He closed the door softly, marvelling at the effect a baby can have on a group of superheroes.

* * *

><p><strong>And that last line inspired the title.<strong>

**This was for a prompt on the kink meme (I've been filling a lot of them lately, in case you haven't noticed), page 23 of round 25. The request was for Clint and Tony being married, and deciding to adopt a baby. Heavy on fluff. Since I love fluff, and couldn't resist the prompt, I eventually filled this.**

**Please review, my dears!**


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